[Spiny_Norman]

Players are deciding to complete their degree and get on with their lives. We can speculate on their reasons (which may be different in each case and may have nothing to do with what we might think). But I don't understand why one might infer internal problems from players saying that they are ready to graduate and move on to the working world rather than play more football.

Something has changed. Stanford used to rely heavily on 5th years and a large number of seniors most years would return for their fifth year. That has changed in recent years. What do you attribute that change to in the last few years?

Yes, there has been a reduction of 5th year seniors even since 2016 or 2017. What has changed? It is as likely or perhaps more likely due to external rather than internal factors. The external factors may be football related (hey, even practice squad players in the NFL make $8400 a week). Or they might be non-football related. A lot has changed just in the last few years in the world around us. Unless any of us has been privy to the discussions that have led to these decisions, we don't know what the driving factors are. But don't assume that they mean internal dysfunction.

What we can judge is what we see on the field. Stanford plays hard. I don't see evidence that the players aren't motivated, aren't responding to the coaches or don't care about winning.

We still think of this as college football, rah-rah, playing for your brothers and your school, the pageantry of football Saturday. But for many of the players, it's a way station on the road to what comes next, not an end unto itself.

[Spiny_Norman]

Players are deciding to complete their degree and get on with their lives. We can speculate on their reasons (which may be different in each case and may have nothing to do with what we might think). But I don't understand why one might infer internal problems from players saying that they are ready to graduate and move on to the working world rather than play more football.

Something has changed. Stanford used to rely heavily on 5th years and a large number of seniors most years would return for their fifth year. That has changed in recent years. What do you attribute that change to in the last few years?

Yes, there has been a reduction of 5th year seniors even since 2016 or 2017. What has changed? It is as likely or perhaps more likely due to external rather than internal factors. The external factors may be football related (hey, even practice squad players in the NFL make $8400 a week). Or they might be non-football related. A lot has changed just in the last few years in the world around us. Unless any of us has been privy to the discussions that have led to these decisions, we don't know what the driving factors are. But don't assume that they mean internal dysfunction.

What we can judge is what we see on the field. Stanford plays hard. I don't see evidence that the players aren't motivated, aren't responding to the coaches or don't care about winning.

We still think of this as college football, rah-rah, playing for your brothers and your school, the pageantry of football Saturday. But for many of the players, it's a way station on the road to what comes next, not an end unto itself.